Critical Reasoning

The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity.
If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?
A. When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced.
B. The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity.
C. If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.
D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.
E. People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.

mgmt_gmat wrote:The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?

A. When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced.
Incorrect : We cannot draw this conclusion from the stated premise.

B. The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity.
Incorrect : The word 'Only' is too extreme. Ruled out.

C. If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.
Correct : From the stimulus above we can infer that level of acidity in unrefined oil is a measure of its quality. Here in this answer choice comparison is made between the quality of unrefined olive oils with the help of the inference above. Hence
this is conclusion is best supported by the stated premises.

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.
Incorrect : Irrelevant.

E. People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.
Incorrect : Out of scope

Hope this helps : )

komal wrote:

mgmt_gmat wrote:The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?

A. When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced.
Incorrect : We cannot draw this conclusion from the stated premise.

B. The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity.
Incorrect : The word 'Only' is too extreme. Ruled out.

C. If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.
Correct : From the stimulus above we can infer that level of acidity in unrefined oil is a measure of its quality. Here in this answer choice comparison is made between the quality of unrefined olive oils with the help of the inference above. Hence
this is conclusion is best supported by the stated premises.

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.
Incorrect : Irrelevant.

E. People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.
Incorrect : Out of scope

Hope this helps : )

Experts please help...Not able to understand why C is right..

I will go with 'C'. Pls confirm OA.

Hi Nikhil,

I am no expert but i'll give it a shot.


The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil’s acidity.

1. Quality of unrefined olive oil is not defined in terms of its acidity.
2. But, lesser is the amount of acid in unrefined Olive Oil, better is the quality of that Unrefined Olive oil.

3. Argument then states that proportion of acid in Olive oil contains is an accurate measure of its acidity. (please note that the word here is "acidity" and not "quality", it basically provides the link between statement 1 and 2)

Now as we scan the answer choices we would want a answer choice that we can prove using statements 1. 2. and 3.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?

A. When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced. The facts only talk about unrefined olive oil. We can't prove this using 1,2 or 3 so.. Incorrect.

B. The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity. This is a trap, a lot people would catch on this because they would have read as proportion of acid in Olive oil contains is an accurate measure of its quality (and not acidity). The statements 1. says exactly opposite of what B. is saying and 2 and 3 are irrelevant so .. we can't prove this choice using 1. 2. or 3. - Eliminate.


C. If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.

Lets take 3 samples. 1st contains 10 percent acid, 2nd 20 percent acid and 3rd 30 percent acid.

Using statement 3 we can conclude that 1'st is least acidic and 3rd is most acidic.

Now, using statement 1. and 2. we can conclude that 1st sample is of the best quality and 3rd sample has the worst quality.

Hence it is correct. Anyway, if you're not convinced mark it as a contender and lets move on to the next.

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains. There could be other acids that olive oil contains. We can't prove this using 1. 2. or 3. We can easily eliminate this one.

E. People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.

The last bit of this statement, "which the judges can taste" is enough to eliminate this one, because we are not told whether we can taste the acid or not. Eliminate.


I hope this helps.

I have a doubt...

Why the answer is not D?

read this part " the propotion............. oil's acidity"

mzkfrk wrote:I have a doubt...

Why the answer is not D?

read this part " the propotion............. oil's acidity"

I got the correct answer C by the process of Elimination.
It's a inference based question. The right answer must be TRUE(very strict)
Now option
D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.
But no where in argument it is mentioned that FO acid is the ONLY acid olive contains.
It just talks only about FO acid. What if there are other acids? Then option D doesn't hold true.

M09 wrote:

mzkfrk wrote:I have a doubt...

Why the answer is not D?

read this part " the propotion............. oil's acidity"

I got the correct answer C by the process of Elimination.
It's a inference based question. The right answer must be TRUE(very strict)
Now option
D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.
But no where in argument it is mentioned that FO acid is the ONLY acid olive contains.
It just talks only about FO acid. What if there are other acids? Then option D doesn't hold true.

"The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity."
this means oleic acid is the only acid present..

mzkfrk wrote:

M09 wrote:

mzkfrk wrote:I have a doubt...

Why the answer is not D?

read this part " the propotion............. oil's acidity"

I got the correct answer C by the process of Elimination.
It's a inference based question. The right answer must be TRUE(very strict)
Now option
D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.
But no where in argument it is mentioned that FO acid is the ONLY acid olive contains.
It just talks only about FO acid. What if there are other acids? Then option D doesn't hold true.

"The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity."
this means oleic acid is the only acid present..

something being accurate doesn't means it's the ONLY thing present.
Let me take a example. This example may not be well articulated but still try to get the main point. A computer which runs for 8 hours continuously each day.The computer emits heat and its temperature, caused due to heat,can be accurately determined by knowing the temperature of a chip A.
Now, this doesn't mean the computer only one chip in it. May be it has other chips as well that are helping chip A to show the accurate temperature.

Hope that helps.

hmmm... dat explains a lot.... thanx !

mohit11 wrote:Hi Nikhil,

I am no expert but i'll give it a shot.


The quality of unrefined olive oil is not actually defined in terms of acidity, yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality. The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil’s acidity.

1. Quality of unrefined olive oil is not defined in terms of its acidity.
2. But, lesser is the amount of acid in unrefined Olive Oil, better is the quality of that Unrefined Olive oil.

3. Argument then states that proportion of acid in Olive oil contains is an accurate measure of its acidity. (please note that the word here is "acidity" and not "quality", it basically provides the link between statement 1 and 2)

Now as we scan the answer choices we would want a answer choice that we can prove using statements 1. 2. and 3.

If the statements above are all true, which of the following conclusions is best supported by them?

A. When an olive oil is refined, the concentration of oleic acid in the oil is reduced. The facts only talk about unrefined olive oil. We can't prove this using 1,2 or 3 so.. Incorrect.

B. The quality of an unrefined olive oil can be determined only by accurately measuring its acidity. This is a trap, a lot people would catch on this because they would have read as proportion of acid in Olive oil contains is an accurate measure of its quality (and not acidity). The statements 1. says exactly opposite of what B. is saying and 2 and 3 are irrelevant so .. we can't prove this choice using 1. 2. or 3. - Eliminate.


C. If an unrefined olive oil is intermediate in acidity between two other unrefined olive oils, it will also be intermediate between them in quality.

Lets take 3 samples. 1st contains 10 percent acid, 2nd 20 percent acid and 3rd 30 percent acid.

Using statement 3 we can conclude that 1'st is least acidic and 3rd is most acidic.

Now, using statement 1. and 2. we can conclude that 1st sample is of the best quality and 3rd sample has the worst quality.

Hence it is correct. Anyway, if you're not convinced mark it as a contender and lets move on to the next.

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains. There could be other acids that olive oil contains. We can't prove this using 1. 2. or 3. We can easily eliminate this one.

E. People who judge the quality of unrefined olive oils actually judge those oils by their acidity, which the judges can taste.

The last bit of this statement, "which the judges can taste" is enough to eliminate this one, because we are not told whether we can taste the acid or not. Eliminate.


I hope this helps.

I must begin with thanking you, Mohit, not only for throwing light on the question stem and the way you negated the wrong answer choices, but also for being downto-earth, which is evident when I cited your quote, "I am no expert, but will give it a shot". Please keep it up.

Let me be little greedy now. Could you please let me know as how you used to apply your thought process or strategy in verbal? It will be a big help to me.

Once again, thank you so much, Mohit.

1) Can someone explain, Why is D wrong?
Stimulus says:-"The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity."
If proportion of free oleic acid = measure of acidity, isn't it reasonable to assume that its the only acid that the olive oil contains?

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.

2) Also the stimulus says that "the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality."
This doesn't mean that its quality is only dependent on the quantity of oleic acid.
As per option C, it could be possible that the oil with intermediate acidity could contain very high amount of other impurities making it of least quality. Why do we assume that acidity is the only factor indicating quality?

resolehtmai wrote:1) Can someone explain, Why is D wrong?
Stimulus says:-"The proportion of free oleic acid that an olive oil contains is an accurate measure of the oil's acidity."
If proportion of free oleic acid = measure of acidity, isn't it reasonable to assume that its the only acid that the olive oil contains?

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.

2) Also the stimulus says that "the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality."
This doesn't mean that its quality is only dependent on the quantity of oleic acid.
As per option C, it could be possible that the oil with intermediate acidity could contain very high amount of other impurities making it of least quality. Why do we assume that acidity is the only factor indicating quality?

D. Free oleic acid is the only acid that unrefined olive oil contains.

From Question: "yet extensive tests have shown that the less free oleic acid an unrefined olive oil contains per liter, the higher its quality"

This doesn't mean that Oleic Acid is the only Acid that is present in Olive Oil; Maybe it contains another Acid "ABC" but only "Oleic Acid" is used to determine the quality.

if there are other acids, how come oleic acid alone gives the accurate measure of the acidity?

resolehtmai wrote:if there are other acids, how come oleic acid alone gives the accurate measure of the acidity?

resolehtmai, we are not concerned about the techicality of the Questem Stem.

If the question were "The Sun rises only on Monday" then you cannot question the validity of question by saying that it rises on all days.. Just accept.

The Answer to your question is in below example:

"I have 3 pens in my pocket colored "Red", "Blue" & "Black" but I can use only "blue" pen for exam......reason.. only "blue" color is allowed.